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Homemade extractor question...

I recently built and used a homemade extractor. I was very pleased and suprised on how well it worked. It is basically a threaded rod powered by a drill and extracts the honey into a large drum. After extracting half a super, the base of the rod started to wander around on the bottom of the drum. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can mount to the bottom in order to hold the base of the rod to prevent it from moving and keep it centered??

The frames are clamped in with a wing nut between to the 2 slotted angle iron. Here is a pic of the bottom of the rod which I just capped with a cap nut to allow it to spin better on the bottom of the drumSDC13814.JPG

Here is the bottom of the drum where I would like to attach something that would keep the rod centered and stop it from wanderingSDC13815.JPG

Re: Homemade extractor question...

Originally Posted by channel12001

... the bottom of the rod which I just capped with a cap nut to allow it to spin better on the bottom of the drum.

The simplest option is to add a length of the U-channel fixed to the bottom of the drum. Have a hole in the U-channel aligned for the cap nut to rest on, but keep the hole small enough that the nut doesn't fit all the way through the hole.

I personally would look for a sealed flange bearing that could support the weight of the basket and drill and mount that on the U-channel. Something like this:

Re: Homemade extractor question...

I would get something like this:

A PVC flange, with a smooth 1" interior diameter, bolt to the bottom of your bucket with nylon or stainless bolts with a little silicon around the bolt holes to seal it up and then press in a 1" PVC bushing with whatever interior diameter works with your metal rod. It doesn't have to be a perfect fit, just get it close. If you can find a flange with the right interior diameter you could just use that but I bet it will be easier to get an oversized flange and then reduce it with a bushing than to find one small enough to fit your rod.

Drop a stainless steel washer or something else hard into the bottom for the rod to rest on so that it doesn't eat through the bottom of your bucket and your set. Should all cost about 10$ at any decent hardware store.

I wouldn't worry about trying to use ball bearings or the like for anything with this low of an RPM and thrust,

Re: Homemade extractor question...

Or fabricate something like Maxant uses in their 3100 series extractors... A pvc cap that is a little larger than the rod glued to the bottom of the container, drop a ball-bearing into the cap and the rod spins on top of the ball-bearing....?